A sexually aroused (musth) male elephant has become a major worry for forest officials and the general public in Digapahandi forest range in Berhampur, Odisha.
It has already killed a five-year-old ‘sub-adult’ male elephant whose body was found near Nimakhandipentha on December 16 morning. Four forest officials involved in tracking the wild pachyderm to keep it away from human habitats were injured and escaped narrowly when the animal chased them on December 18 night.
This wild tusker in heat has been eyeing a herd of elephants that has five mature females. This herd is present in Changudidei forest since the past few weeks. The tusker is being seen at a distance of 200 to 300 metres from this elephant herd.
Initially, the elephant found in a pool of blood on December 16 was thought to have been killed by poachers. “But its tusks were intact and post-mortem proved that it had been killed because of rupture of jugular vein during a fight with another large tusker,” said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer Ashis Behera.
“Elephants in musth fight for dominance. The dead male elephant was part of the herd that was being targeted by the wild tusker in musth,” Mr. Behera added. While in musth, bull elephants have testosterone level six times higher than normal. During this period, a tusker is extremely aggressive and ferocious.
An elephant in musth, most of the times, attacks or charges anyone and anything. They attack other male elephants, any animal or human in vicinity and even show their wrath on trees and bushes.
Attracted by paddy crop in fields, the elephant herd is trying to move towards human habitats in and around Changudidei forest. Following the females of the herd, the tusker in musth is also expected to come near the villages during night, posing a danger to humans and their belongings. The forest officials are trying hard to keep the elephant herd away from the villages.
On December 18 night, forest officials were shooing away this elephant herd from vicinity of Talapada when all of a sudden the tusker in heat came out of the jungle and tried to attack them. The officials ran in the darkness in the hilly jungle to save their lives and four of them were injured in the melee.
According to forest officials, the bull elephant would calm down only when its testosterone level comes down after mating a female elephant.